Hello fight fans.
You know, too often we get dragged into what has become a modern footballing maelstrom and sometimes …forget to take a few minutes to right the balance of our temperance.
Do wot H?
Which in the old money is how about we all calm down a little and remember what it is about this Tottingham lark we actually enjoy. Hopefully the following pages will do the trick. They worked wonders for me. A debt of gratitude to the good and noble folk at The Football Archivist.
All you have to do is click on the image below and …relax.
Am i creating a false memory,i’m sure my first Tottenham top was a plain white round neck with the badge sewn on by my mum,or did i look like a right mug and my mum turned me over.Or is it all a dream,you decide!
I had that shirt and my mum also sewed the badge on it, circa 1962.
She put some cotton wool under the badge to make it stick out but it probably looked like I had started early development of one man boob.
Sad to say I do not need cotton wool anymore!
Oh god, you’ve taken me back there. I remember in Lillywhites, they just used to have this big wooden cabinet with drawers in, like the kind they’ve reclaimed to use in trendy boutiques now.
Your Dad would say ‘Spurs’ (of course) and after a shuffling of draws the suited sales assistant would produce a crisp white cotton longsleeve by Bukta or some other company, followed by plain navy shorts & white socks. Of course the same routine would have been followed for Derby, Preston North End or any number of clubs but… And that was where the magic was, after a quick check under the counter… Out would come the sew on Spurs patch. Genius.
God, trips to Lillywhites were like heaven then. Shame it’s just a glorified JD sports these days.
:cwy:
I had never thought about the same white shirt being used by a number of different teams but now you mention it, it makes sense as ” our” shirt had no feature to make it stand out from other teams who played in white shirts, until the badge was sewn on.
In the late 1960’s following a serious illness my parents wrote to Jimmy Greaves and he sent them a signed photo which I still have.
The funny thing is, he is wearing the same shirt.
Do you think his mum sewed the badge on for him ?
What a hilarious thought… The players being sent home with the shirts & patches for the wives to sew on. Not actually beyond the bounds of possibility in reality for those days.
Don’t know if you’ve read it but I can heartily recommend Gary Imlach’s brilliant book ‘My father & other working class football heroes’.
He presents footie on Eurosport among other things and wrote the book after digging out a load of mementoes at his fathers house after he’d died. His Dad had played for Scotland in the ’58 World Cup & Forest in the cup winning team of ’59 and when he went through all the caps and medals, he realised how little he knew about his life and his playing days.
The story is an amazing one about the days when ordinary guys played football in front of thousands of people on a Saturday, then went back to being carpenters, plumbers and builders during the week. A fantastic read.
Glad i’m not going mad,i am a little concerned though as my top would have been about 1972.Thanks for the book tip astro it sounds right up my street
Mr. Imlach also covers the Tour De France and the covered the NFL as well on Channel 4 years ago before coming back again this past season.
Sounds like a good read though and he’s certainly no bad presenter either *goes to Amazon/Play :ninja:
My first Spurs shirt was in fact a short sleeved vest upon which I stuck a crude imitation of the badge and a number 8 (Jimmy Greaves). It was in 1962, in an age where social workers not only condoned, but actually advocated a damned good thrashing as a part of a loving family environment.
I mention this as it as this was a direct result for me, for cutting the badge and the ‘8’ out of the leg of my Dad’s Sunday best trousers.
Priceless :-D
On the Spurs site, the new “purple” shirt looks like it is actually blue.
Loved the photos. Sir Alf and Danny Boy. Dave and Danny. Any pictures of Billy Nick? Loved the Cup final team – “if you want to get ahead get a hat” – looked like they meant business.
That 1957 picture of Greavsie in the Chelsea shirt doesn’t look right….he’s not related to Denis Wise is he?
Why is it that you never see the former Juventus ace Giampiero Boniperti and Paul Gascoigne in the same room…. :shifty:
ahh,the days when the refs wore a bow tie,love it
and great pic of ardilles infront of the white wall reading the mag,
whats happened we are not questioning the depths of the tottenham soul and her players
apart frrom the 2 england youngsters has anyone one been signed just looks like the geordies doing business,people better get a crunk on,